A rare Chinese grammar and text-book, from one of the most eminent sinologist's of his time. This was the very first Chinese grammar book published in Portuguese and was followed by two dictionaries.
Joaquim Affonso Gonçalves (1781-1841) was a Portuguese missionary who moved to Macao in 1812 to teach at the college of St. Joseph. He was a polymath who was well versed in theology, math and music, as well as multiple European languages. However, he is most well-known for his knowledge of Chinese and was even knighted in the Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vilia-Viçosa because of his contributions to this field.
Gonçalves' works were among the first to be published by the Portuguese at the college of St. Joseph after a more than 80- year long printing prohibition. This law, dating from 1736, forbade the Portuguese from printing anything in the colonies. However, that did not prevent them from aiding foreigners. When the famous British missionary and sinologist Robert Morrison set out to print an English-Chinese dictionary, the Portuguese in Macao offered their help. According to Christoper Reed, part of it was even printed at the College of St. Joseph. Since Gonçalves was already living in Macao at the time, it is highly likely that this inspired him to create his own works on the Chinese language.
The work provides a thorough and very practical introduction to many aspects of the Chinese language, with much attention paid to the idiom, diction, grammar and syntax of both the spoken and the written language. The appendix compares the pronounciation of Mandarin and Cantonese. As almost every page contains both Portuguese and Chinese text, printing it must have been a serious undertaking.
The spine is discoloured and the boards and edges are scuffed. The title-page shows a slight tear in the magin, very slightly browned throughout. Overall in good condition.